Vienna
by Wenda the White Fawn
Summary: When Arya was little, Jon would sing to her. A sweet song, but she could never remember the name, or who sang it. After he left, she couldn't sleep. Gendry changed that.


_"Slow down, you crazy child, you're so ambitious for a juvenile. But then if you're so smart, tell me why are you still so afraid?_

_Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? You better put it out before you burn it out._

_You got so much to do in so many hours of the day._

_But you know that when the truth is told, you can get what you want, or you can just get old."_

_-Billy Joel "Vienna"_

* * *

Arya let her fingers trail across the dirt, letting it crust under her bitten fingernails. She hummed a soft tune under her breath, a song she hadn't heard since Jon had left to the Wall, and then everything had gone wrong. Her father was dead, her brothers were all dead, her mother was dead, her sister was gone, and she was on the run.

She was supposed to have a pack. Her, Hot Pie, and Gendry. Now Hot Pie was gone, and stupid Gendry was joining the stupid Brotherhood as a stupid mechanic, and they had no one to ransom her off to, so she was stuck with them.

"Where'd you hear that song?"

Arya turned around to look at Gendry, standing behind her wearing jeans and nothing else. "Jon used to sing it to me when I was little, and I couldn't sleep. It always helped.

Gendry sat down next to her. "Can you sleep now?"

She shook her head. "No." She pressed her thumb on a bruise on her bare knee and twisted a string of yarn from her frayed shorts.

"My mom used to sing me songs when I was little. Before she died, every night she would find me something different, and she would sit by my bed and sing to me until I fell asleep."

"What did she sing to you?"

Gendry shrugged. "Mostly soft rock ballads. One time she sang all eight minutes of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, and I still couldn't sleep, so she sang me "Hey Jude" from the Beatles, and then "Let it Be" and I was out in thirty seconds."

"Do you know the song?"

"What song?"

"The one I was just humming. Do you know what it is?"

Gendry gave her an odd look. "You don't remember it?"

Arya shook her head. "Every time Jon sang it, I would ask him what it was before I fell asleep, and he'd tell me, but when I woke up I'd forget it."

Gendry took her hand and pulled her up. "Come on. I want to show you something."

Arya followed him out to the garage of Acorn Hall, and sat on the bench where she watched him work. He dug around in his car for a moment, and finally pulled out a CD. He put it in the disc player and pressed 'PLAY' and sat next to her as she waited for the music to start. When it did, she recognized the tune immediately. The singer had a soft, slightly lilting voice. She closed her eyes and remembered how Jon would sing to her, smiling at her as she laughed.

She felt a hand on hers, and she looked up. Gendry was holding his hand out to hers. "My lady," he said dramatically, bowing deeply.

Arya rolled her eyes and took his hand, standing up. She was dipped so suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck automatically to keep from falling. He righted her, and then spun her around three times, twisting her in his arms so her back was pressed to his chest. She knew what he was doing. He was trying to make her feel better, trying to get her to forget about everything that was going on. Gendry didn't know how to dance, and neither did she, but it wasn't about talent. She was shocked when he picked her up and dropped her right back down, and then kept twirling her around like a doll. Arya laughed as she steadied herself, feeling dizzy, and hugged him. The music was still playing, but they just stood there, arms wrapped around each other. She felt tears pricking her eyes, but she pushed them back with the back of her hand.

Arya leaned back, looking up at him, and kissed him softly on the lips. They stayed like that for a while, lips pressed together. It was a lingering kiss, one that she was glad it happened.

Gendry pulled back only a little, so that when he spoke, she felt him whispering against her lips. "Vienna," he whispered, eyes shut.

"What?"

"That's the song. Vienna."


End file.
